Brett Kavanaugh 'sexual assault victim' speaks out

A woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by US President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, has identified herself.

Christine Blasey Ford told the Washington Post Mr Kavanaugh had pinned her to a bed and tried to undress her when they were both teenagers.

Mr Kavanaugh denied the allegations when they first surfaced last week.

The top members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are now expected to speak to both Mr Kavanaugh and Mrs Ford.

A spokesperson for Senator Chuck Grassley, the committee’s Republican chairman, said he was "actively working” to set up bipartisan calls to both people as a result of "the late addendum to the background file and revelations of Dr Ford’s identity”.

Mr Kavanaugh, 53, was questioned during four days of hearings at the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. The committee is due to vote on Thursday on whether his nomination should go forward to a full vote in the Senate.

The incident allegedly happened at a gathering of teenagers at a house, when Mr Kavanaugh and a friend allegedly "corralled” her into a bedroom. Mr Kavanaugh and his friend were both drunk, she says.

In the words of the Washington Post, "While his friend watched, she said, Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed on her back and groped her over her clothes, grinding his body against hers and clumsily attempting to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she wore over it.

"When she tried to scream, she said, he put his hand over her mouth.”

Mrs Ford, 51, is further quoted as saying that she managed to break free.